Death metal and some selected Black Metal. I look like any other unassuming Gen Xer now in middle age with a kid and a job and all that. But I love me some nasty downtuned riffage with purely evil growled vocals maybe with a blast beat thrown in for good measure. I've long since given up on converting the normals -…

The only justification for a Trump candidacy and now Presidency was that he is some mythically phenomenal businessman who would run the country like a business and cut us the best deals. Since his remarks we have just learned that two of his business counsels have disbanded because so many CEOs dropped out. Good…

Could anyone explain why the states that border Mexico have such radically different experiences with Mexican food? I know the border is long but it's strange that Texans don't recognize tacos de papas for instance. Also, is it true that Mexican food in Arizona is bad? I've heard that from many people. That really…

Absolutely. When I actually crave a burger there are a thousand places I would go to over McDonald's. It's just that every now and again I very specifically crave a Big Mac. When they get you young, they gotcha.

There's also that!

A friend once expressed surprise that I like a Big Mac every few months or so. He yelled, "That's the worst burger ever!" My reply was that he needed to stop viewing it as a burger. He should look at it as a specialty beef sandwich. Totally didn't convince him but it is how I live with myself. Same with The Bell - I…

Yeah, she's great - would love to see her live.

Of course! Great band! I was just being snarky with the "real metal" crack. People tend to get reductive with the metal genre so I was just insinuating that Emperor should never be mentioned in the same breath as, say, Limp Bizkit. Which I just did, so that sucks.

Emperor's Anthems is great. If a 20 year old album still makes me nervous it is great.

As usual, real metal to the fucking rescue. Although listed, Emperor's "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk" was not discussed. Probably the greatest Scandinavian Black Metal album of all time, these nice lads were interested in only one thing: letting you know what Hell sounded like. This album is almost unbearably…

I watched it all play out in front of me, 15th Street and 5th Avenue which had a nearly unobstructed view of the north tower. When the first tower fell you could hear a roar/scream that was like a sonic wave emerging from downtown heading uptown. About half an hour later people covered in that famous white soot…

Strauss and Howe's Generational Turning Theory is about the phases of society over an average 80 year lifespan (a turning). So major events can indeed define a generation but some of these major events occur within the larger lifespan. So, younger Millennials are feeling the impacts of 9/11 (war on terror) but don't…

Strauss and Howe - the sociologists who came up with a lot of the generational theory we discuss today - define the Millennials as being born between 1982 to 2004. Here is a Wiki article about their generational turning theory which is fascinating and terrifying.

Point well taken. I think of the New Left and their impeccable social views that are sometimes communicated in the most condescending, dickish ways. It is indeed a tricky road to travel these days…

Schon is known to be a complete asshole so it is surprising that he turns out to be the
politically principled member of this band. Other than that I am pleased by this story in that I can go back to legitimately hating Journey again, just like it's 1983.

Checked out Marauders with Willis and Christopher Meloni last week on HBO On Demand. There are some films that simply reek of Direct to Video and this was one of them, even as the director tried to punch above his pay grade. Avoid.

Moist and doily always make me giggle in a context-free way.

I'm an old. I discovered KISS as a young, in 1976. They were comic book superheroes and they just seemed to explode off of their album covers. It was no contest - I loved them from the get go. Got to see them live on their 1996 reunion tours which was magic for me etc etc. I also credit them for being the gateway…

We never got to see Robb's wins but Tywin Lannister was always bitching about the kid's record.

I'm now certain Cersei is dead by the end of the season. If we are to view Daenerys as one of the main heroes of the show, along with Jon Snow, then in classic narrative fashion they are in quite the pickle due to the success of the main antagonist, Cersei. Cersei has halved Dany's fleet, removed Dorne from the…